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KINGSTON — Accounts lecturer, Anthony Hutchinson, told the FINSAC Enquiry Wednesday April 13 that although he never challenged the right of the Jamaican Redevelopment Foundation (JRF) Inc. to charge interest on his bad debt, he was not sure that it was entitled to do so. “My first issue was to pay off the debt. That interest rate, as unreasonable as...

KINGSTON — Up to 4,000 more Jamaican families will each year have the opportunity to own their dream home, with the assistance of the Jamaica Mortgage Bank (JMB), through its Secondary Mortgage Market (SMM) facility, which was launched Wednesday April 13 at the Terra Nova Hotel, Kingston. The SMM is a mechanism that provides liquidity to mortgage originators by allowing...

$1.15 Billion of $1.84 Billion for GoJ Institutions & Contracts    The Minister of Finance and The Public Service (MOFPS) has issued summary data for waivers approved for the month of February, as set out in the table below. A total of $1,841,789,198.88 waivers was issued, with the bulk ($1,151,291,466.46) going to GoJ-related transactions. Government contracts accounted for $643,054,642.37 of...

KINGSTON — Former Chairman of the Eagle Group of Companies, Dr. Paul Chen-Young, is scheduled to testify before the FINSAC Commission of Enquiry via videolink from abroad, on Thursday (April 14). Dr. Chen-Young, whose Eagle Group was a victim of the 1990s financial meltdown and was taken over the Government-owned Financial Sector Adjustment Company (FINSAC), emigrated to the United States...

MONTEGO BAY — A US$1.2 million (approximately $102 million) e-procurement technical agreement was signed between the Government of Jamaica (GOJ) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) on Tuesday April 12. Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, Senator the Hon Arthur Williams, signed on behalf of the government, while IDB representative in Jamaica, Ancile Brewster,...

KINGSTON — Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Hon Karl Samuda, has assured manufacturers that the Government will not impose taxes on the sector, which could affect their production. “I can assure you, as the Minister responsible for this sector, that this Government has no intention of engaging in any exercise that is going to in any way, reduce the...

KINGSTON — St. Catherine farmer, Llewellyn Bailey, claims that unfair treatment by his creditors and his inability to continue paying his lawyer, after high interest rates drove him broke, led to his debts growing from $320,000 in 1996 to over $1.5 million by 2008, despite several payments. Mr. Bailey told the FINSAC Commission of Enquiry, Tuesday April 12 that, in...

KINGSTON — Despite the impact of the recent spike in oil and commodity prices in international markets, the gains made in containing the cost of living in Jamaica are expected to hold. The Bank of Jamaica has projected that the rate of inflation for the financial year will settle at the low end of the 7.5 to 9.5 per cent...

Minister of Finance, Hon. Audley Shaw, has expressed gratitude to the United Kingdom (UK) Department for International Development (DFID) for its $327 million (£2.4 million) in debt relief for the fiscal year 2010/11. The relief was granted on past official development assistance loans (ODA), through the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID). Mr. Shaw reaffirmed the strong and historic relationship...

KINGSTON — The Commission of Enquiry into the 1990s financial meltdown and the role of the Government-established company, Financial Sector Adjustment Company (FINSAC), in the recovery of outstanding debts, will resume on Tuesday, April 12. Chairman of the two-man Commission, chartered accountant, Worrick Bogle, told last Thursday’s sitting that the Commission would not meet this week, as lawyers involved with...

KINGSTON — Anthony Hutchinson has been an accountant and a farmer for the past 26 years but, despite his skills, he is facing eviction from his 15-acre property, because of his inability to pay off a debt of over $12 million triggered by the 1990s financial meltdown. Mr. Hutchinson says that, after running into problems with repayment of his 1995...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon Audley Shaw, has said that fiscal consolidation and improved quality of governance are necessary preconditions to achieving investment and substantial growth in the Jamaican economy. Speaking in London Thursday at a Conference on Debt Management, sponsored by the Commonwealth Secretariat, Mr Shaw said that Jamaica's debt burden contributed to the country's lack...